“Supporting” OCOP products to reach international level

Mr. Pham Dinh Ngai, CEO of Sokfarm, with a shipment of Sokfarm's organic coconut nectar preparing to export to Australia.

Successfully conquer the difficult market

Tra Vinh FARM Limited Liability Company (Sokfarm), Tieu Can district, established in 2019, is the first enterprise in Vietnam specializing in producing products processed from coconut nectar according to safe and organic standards with the goal of protecting and improving the health of consumers.

So far, Sokfarm has provided the market with 06 main products including fresh coconut nectar, concentrated coconut nectar, fermented coconut nectar, coconut nectar vinegar, coconut nectar sugar, and coconut nectar soy sauce. All of these products meet OCOP standards; of which, concentrated coconut nectar and coconut nectar sugar are national OCOP products (5 stars), the remaining products all meet 4 stars.

Sokfarm's coconut nectar soy sauce product is completing the application for the Central Council (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) to evaluate and recognize it as a 5-star OCOP product.

Mr. Pham Dinh Ngai, CEO of Sokfarm, said that in the early days of starting the company, the company encountered many difficulties because the product was quite new on the market. Along with limitations in capital investment for factory construction and machinery equipment, the company also faced difficulties in the consumer market, because consumers often hesitate when choosing to buy new products.

Fortunately, in 2019, Sokfarm was facilitated by the local government to access the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Project (SME Tra Vinh Project) funded by the Canadian Government with a non-refundable grant of VND 800 million to invest in building factories and purchasing modern machinery and equipment for production.

In addition, Sokfarm also has access to many other policies such as the local industrial promotion program supporting funding to buy dryers; the functional sector of Tra Vinh province creates conditions for participating in domestic and international trade promotion fairs... After being supported to participate in the OCOP Program, Sokfarm's products quickly became known and trusted by consumers.

According to Mr. Pham Dinh Ngai, the OCOP program and the support policies of Tra Vinh province are the driving force to bring Sokfarm products further and further, trusted by customers to buy for use or as gifts. Not only affirming the prestige and quality in the domestic market, Sokfarm products have successfully conquered many demanding international markets.

Along with being present in more than 40 provinces and cities in Vietnam, Sokfarm's products have been officially exported to the markets of 08 countries including the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, Korea, Germany, the Netherlands and Lebanon. In 2024, the company exported more than 60,000 product units; in which, the largest markets are the US and Australia; the Company's revenue growth reached 27%.

Mr. Pham Dinh Ngai added that the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Tra Vinh province is supporting Sokfarm to complete the procedures and documents for the implementation of the OCOP value chain development project. When the project is approved, in addition to receiving support for building a 500m2 factory to expand production scale, Sokfarm will also receive support from the relevant authorities to evaluate and certify the quality of products that meet international organic standards.

Nowadays, international consumers are very interested in products that have a positive impact on the environment and health, so organic products are always the preferred, sustainable choice. This is an opportunity for Sokfarm to affirm its reputation, build trust with consumers and international distributors, open up opportunities to increase market share and build a prestigious Vietnamese brand in the international arena.

"Supporting" OCOP products for sustainable development

Vice Chairman of Tra Vinh Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Quynh Thien said that the OCOP Program is an important content of the criteria for rural economic development, improving people's lives in building new rural areas; is a key task that the locality regularly and long-term implements. This is also a program that has contributed to the successful implementation of the province's new rural construction goal, promoting Tra Vinh's sustainable economic development.

In recent times, along with the annual budget allocation, the province has mobilized many resources, taken advantage of programs and projects implemented in the area to support businesses, business households, and cooperatives to invest in expanding production scale, improving product quality, and finding distribution channels...

Up to now, the OCOP Program has spread widely to many small and medium enterprises, cooperatives, cooperative groups, and business households. After being "labeled" as OCOP, products are always trusted and prioritized by customers for use or as gifts. Thanks to that, local specialties are increasingly valued, have a stable consumer market, and some OCOP Tra Vinh products are "confident" to compete in the global market, meeting the modern consumption trends of domestic and foreign customers.

Tra Vinh province currently has 393 products recognized as OCOP; of which, 03 products have achieved 5 stars; 07 products have achieved 5-star potential; 46 products have achieved 4 stars and 337 products have achieved 3 stars, of a total of 250 entities, including: 32 companies, 07 enterprises, 35 cooperatives, 04 Cooperative Groups and 172 business households.

According to a survey by the relevant authorities, after meeting the standards, the annual output and revenue of 5-star OCOP products increased by 30-60%; 4-star products increased by 20-52% and 3-star products increased by 10-25%.

Mr. Huynh Kim Nhan, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Tra Vinh province, said that the program has contributed to shifting the rural economic structure towards increasing the proportion of industry, services, and occupations, creating jobs and increasing income for rural people; promoting creativity, improving production and business capacity for farmers. Many establishments and enterprises have boldly invested and applied advanced machinery and equipment technology in production, helping to improve productivity, quality and diversify products.

Currently, establishments participating in the OCOP Program are facilitated to access Resolution No. 03/2021/NQ-HDND of the People's Council of Tra Vinh province, such as financial support for packaging design, product labels and product story building; renting or building new stores to sell OCOP products; purchasing machinery and equipment, production lines; supporting procedures and funding for entities to upgrade star ratings...

Facilities participating in the OCOP Program also participate in courses and training on the Program; support activities to promote and advertise products at fairs organized by ministries, central agencies and provinces nationwide.

In the coming time, the functional sector will continue to research and advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue mechanisms and policies to implement the program; support the improvement of OCOP product quality, promote brand promotion, trade promotion, connect supply and demand for product consumption; bring OCOP products to e-commerce platforms.

According to comrade Huynh Kim Nhan, in addition to investments in standards, quality, food safety, commercial capacity and initiative, participation in distribution chains, etc., OCOP entities need to be more flexible and creative in product development and design, focusing on packaging and packaging methods to meet consumer tastes.

Article and photos: THANH HOA

Source: https://www.baotravinh.vn/kinh-te/tiep-suc-cho-san-pham-ocop-vuon-tam-quoc-te-44591.html